Is anyone selling bees or nucs in Tasmania.
I have a customer who needs some for his hives, but can’t find any.
Apparently he also can’t get them sent to him from the mainland because of quarantine laws.

I think it’s wrong to assume that about clubs, and perpetuating that narrative only hurts the relationship. Club members may be against the attitude or approach of some Flow owners, but I strongly doubt any club would ever withhold bees from someone just because they are using a Flow hive.

I’ve seen several Flow owners in recent weeks getting stroppy because they can’t get bees immediately…which is ironic given the apparent concern about the bee’s welfare and wanting to ‘save’ them. Not everything in life has an express delivery option.

“I’m not going to be much help to you…I’ve been inundated with requests for nucs, and I don’t know of anyone who has any to spare, i.e. beyond the few they are doing for other people which are already earmarked.”

The guy in that Tas link wants 500 for a Nuc and told me to put flow hives in shed if I want to do proper beekeeping blah blah…

That response and reasoning appears completely reasonable, and I don’t see any suggestion it has anything to do with flow hive ownership. You are going to get this answer regardless of hive type.

This is the reality of the situation, nucs are ordered well in advance, established beekeepers know this and have ordered accordingly so are well ahead of you in the queue. Beekeepers I work with were taking orders in February for nucs that are only just starting to build up now (getting access to queens this early is still posing problematic).

As for the $500 nuc comment, I’d probably say the same thing to you today if I was pressed to provide a nuc on short notice. To meet the demand I’d more than likely sell you an overwintered hive of my own and expect to be compensated for the inconvenience.

Your profile says you have 10 hives, are they all Flow hives? If you have other hives, why aren’t you splitting them? It’s the perfect time of year to be doing this.

Hi, I make up and sell top quality NUCS for beginners each summer season, the NUCS are presently only $200 and come with a newly mated, marked and laying queen , late season NUCS come with a full frame of honey to get them through the winter.

My name is Glen Coughlan, I’m a beekeeper with 44 years experience. I own and have operated a flow hive with the six frames over this past year and have taken 30 Litres of honey from this system before storing the unit over winter here in Tasmania.

I am presently working toward a true BUCKFAST variety of honeybee brother Adam would be proud of, until I have achieved the characteristics of the breed I won’t be supplying queen’s.

I sell NUCS at a very affordable price and on quality New Zealand Alliance brand timber frames no older than a year old. NUCS are on four full depth sized frames. Typically I transfer the colony over into your own box and present the queen for your inspection marked with the seasons mark.

I am Flowhive experienced and not ignorant, arrogant or biased to the concept as are most commercial beekeepers.

So, a colony can always be sourced through me in Tasmania without the fears of price gouging or extortion to buy bee equipment as I do not sell it. I always offer future advices and a wealth of information and tips to anyone I have picked up over my 44 years with bees.